A 15-year-old girl from Ludhiana, Jhanvi Behal, who publicly vowed to hoist the national flag at the historic Lal Chowk in Kashmir’s Srinagar city was today turned back by authorities from the Srinagar International Airport on Sunday.
The teenager had dared the separatists to stop her from unfurling the flag. Behal accompanied by 30 others arrived at the airport but all of them were sent back, a police official said.
Behal had grabbed the headlines earlier this year by challenging Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) student leader Kanhaiya Kumar to a debate on nationalism.
Unhone mujhse kaha ki aap jaise desh-bhakton ko nahi khona chahte isiliye wapas chale jayiye. (They told me that they do not wish to lose patriotic citizens like us, therefor, I should go back) I’ve given the flag to IG officers who’ve assured they will unfurl the tricolour in Srinagar on my behalf.Jhanvi Behal
The police official said while six persons including Behal had come in a flight from Chandigarh, 25 others had arrived here in another flight from Delhi.
“All of them were sent back by the same flight in which they came,” the official said.
After the outbreak of violent protests in Kashmir following the killing of Hizbul Mujahideen commander Burhan Wani, Behal gave an online statement expressing her intention to unfurl the natinal flag at Lal Chowk.
(Source: PTI)
(At The Quint, we are answerable only to our audience. Play an active role in shaping our journalism by becoming a member. Because the truth is worth it.)